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The headline on a Dec. 31, 2001, Palm Beach Post article (with these accompanying photos) says “Port St. Lucie Teen Shoots for Stardom.” Fox’s life has certainly changed a lot from when The Post first interviewed her. At the time, the 15-year-old high school sophomore had just finished her first big movie — Holiday in the Sun, a direct-to-video flick starring the Olsen twins.

But she always knew who she was going to be.

“Ever since I was 3 years old, I’ve wanted to be an actress,” she said. “I really never wanted to be or do anything else.”

Her inspiration was Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz.

“For a year after I saw that movie, Mom had to call me Dorothy. I had the red shoes. I wore the pigtails. I knew all her lines. Everything. I guess that’s what started it.”

In 2001, Fox could still rightly describe herself as a typical teen. She and her sister and mother were spotted at the Mall at Wellington Green on the day after Thanksgiving, all sporting holiday antlers and trying to spread cheer.

But even then, Fox gave hints that everybody didn’t treat her kindly.

“I think a lot of times people — especially girls my age — when they hear I (act), they think I’m going to be self-absorbed, conceited, and I’m not that way at all. I’m not rude. I’m not a scary person. I am actually pretty nice.”

She still brings up those points years later, telling journalists once at the Toronto International Film Festival: “There were actually evil girls in my high school — and I went to a Christian high school, go figure. But girls can be really cruel and really awful … I was really shy.”

Fox did stage productions locally, including Godspell in 2000 at Stuart’s Lyric Theatre. She modeled for magazines and appeared in public service announcements. She was a finalist for a role in the CBS daytime soap opera, As the World Turns.

In 2003, she got a small role in Bad Boys II, which was filmed partially in Delray Beach. It was directed by Michael Bay, who would give her instant stardom in the Transformers movies beginning in 2007. That’s when Megan Fox turned from cute teenager to sex symbol.

Her mother, Darlene Tonachio, of Vero Beach, told The Post that it felt “totally surreal” to have spawned an actress often described as the next Angelina Jolie. “As a mom, I look at Megan as my baby girl,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that other people look at her (as a sex object).”

Looking back to 2001, though, it’s almost as though Fox could see it all coming. Even then, she talked like a seasoned pro.

“You really have to be tough in this business because there’s a lot of rejection,” she said. “You just have to stay positive, not take things too seriously and keep trying.”